


Beneath the Starlit Sky

by slightlytookish



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pirate, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-12
Updated: 2011-10-12
Packaged: 2017-10-24 13:39:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/264082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slightlytookish/pseuds/slightlytookish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elena finds something unexpected in Tortuga. (Pirate AU)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beneath the Starlit Sky

**Author's Note:**

> Contains: Imprisonment, some violence (but not against the girls).

Men liked to say that having a woman on board was dreadfully unlucky so by all rights Captain Lefay's ship should have been the unluckiest that ever sailed. But if anyone mentioned that around Morgana she'd just laugh and, more often than not, shoot the poor fellow that said it between the eyes. Nobody was allowed to talk about her girls, after all. Or her ship.

Elena had heard the rumours about _The Seer_ long before she ever came aboard. A ship with blood red sails and a hull as black as night was always going to be something people talked about. Add in the fact that she could outrun any other ship and was manned entirely by a crew of women and of course people were going to think witchcraft had something to do with it.

Sailors were a superstitious bunch and they couldn't help but notice that even when their ships were beset by wind or rain _The Seer_ always managed to travel the same routes with ease and good weather.

The fact that they were unabashed pirates probably didn't help with the rumours, either.

In the three years since she'd joined the crew Elena had never seen the captain cast a spell. But she'd never seen _The Seer_ meet a storm she couldn't outrun, or be fired at or boarded either, and who knew what Morgana got up to in the captain's quarters?

Elena knew only that the ship was her home and the crew was her family. On land she had always been clumsy, had always felt off-balanced and awkward in every way possible.

For some reason she couldn't explain, the sea was where she'd finally found her legs.

*

They arrived at Tortuga in mid-June. It was a favourite of the captain's, being the place she'd found so many of her crew and the one port she knew her brother the Admiral wouldn't dare to look for her for fear of sullying his reputation.

The rum wasn't half bad either.

The tavern was dim and smoky and crowded with people. Elena settled at a table with the others and looked around the room. There was the usual brawling and wenching but her eyes slid past all that and came to rest on a small shivering figure in the corner, half-hidden by the shadows.

It was a girl about Elena's age, but much smaller and slighter and dressed in little more than rags. She crouched on the floor, her shoulders bowed as if she were trying to curl into herself, and her arms and legs were in irons. Every so often she glanced at a large brutish man seated at the bar and shuddered. Elena had never seen anyone look more miserable.

She turned to the captain but found that Morgana was watching the girl too. "He has seven men with him," she murmured. "When I give the signal you grab the girl and make for the ship. We'll handle the others."

"Aye, Captain," Elena said. She took a final swig of her rum and made her way across the room, keeping one eye on the bar to make sure the man didn't notice her. When she finally reached the girl she quickly dropped to the ground beside her, careful to keep out of sight behind a chair. "Hey."

The girl startled and backed away, the rattling of her chains barely making any noise against the dull roar of the crowd.

"Wait, stop," Elena said, grabbing her arm. The girl stilled and watched her warily. Elena couldn't decide what turned her stomach more, the girl's imprisonment or the look in her eyes that made it seem as if she'd resigned herself to her fate.

"We're going to get you out of here," she said. The girl's wrists and ankles were bruised and Elena wished she could remove the shackles but there wasn't enough time now and she didn't have the right tools. Gwen would be able to help them later, when they got back to the ship, but for now Elena would have to carry her.

She leaned close to the girl and felt strangely gratified when she didn't shy away again. "You see the woman with the big hat? The one with all those red feathers? That's the captain. Look, she's leading the girls to the bar now. We've just got to wait for the signal. I'm Elena, by the way."

The girl looked confused and terrified but her eyes were also shining with undisguised hope. Elena grinned and gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. "Everything's going to be all right, I promise," she said before turning her attention back to the bar.

Through the shifting crowd she caught glimpses of Gwen and Sophia and the rest of the girls getting into position. They had swords and daggers and pistols in their hands and like Elena they were watching for Morgana's signal. When it finally came they rushed at the men as Elena scooped up the girl and ran for the door.

Behind her she could hear people shouting and chairs scraping across the floor as the fight broke out but Elena didn't stop to watch. The sound of steel clashing against steel rang in her ears as she hurtled towards the door, pushing past curious onlookers and disinterested drunkards alike. No one tried to stop her.

She'd just crossed the threshold when she heard a gunshot ringing loud and true. A man began to scream and still hadn't stopped when the door to the tavern swung shut behind them, muffling the sound.

In her arms the girl finally relaxed. "I'm Freya," she said, her voice falling soft against Elena's ear. " _Thank you_."

*

"You can leave whenever you like, you know," she whispered to Freya one night. They'd tied their hammocks close together and were lying side-by-side on the deck beneath the starlit sky. The sea was calm and every so often the ship's movement sent them gently careening into each other, but neither one of them seemed to mind. "The captain wouldn't be angry. You're not a prisoner anymore."

But Freya shook her head. "I like it here," she said. Her voice was quiet at first, but grew in strength and determination as she went on. "I've always liked the sea. I used to dream about boarding a ship and seeing other places. Castles and mountains and forests and beaches. I wanted to see everything there was to see, and then turn the ship around and see them all over again."

"You've come to the right place, then," Elena said, giving her a playful nudge.

Freya smiled. "I can't remember the last time I was this happy."

She certainly seemed happy, Elena thought. In the weeks since her rescue Freya no longer resembled the terrified girl they'd found at the tavern. The bruises that had mottled her skin had all but faded away, and now she climbed the masts without fear, scurrying after Vivian like a squirrel high above the deck. She worked hard, was surprisingly skilled with a dagger, and seemed to smile all the time. Lately whenever she saw that smiled directed at her Elena felt her insides tingling in a strange way that made it seem as if her heart was about to burst for some reason she couldn't quite explain.

But she didn't say any of that now. Just thinking about it made her feel awkward, like the old Elena had been on land, afraid to take a step for fear of falling and failing and making a fool of herself. So she stayed quiet, listening to the sound of the waves cresting against the sides of the ship until Freya turned to her and spoke again.

"I don't think I'll ever want to leave," she said. "I like the other girls, and the captain, and - and you. I like you. I have since - well, since that night at the tavern, really. But I wasn't sure if - you know. If I should say anything."

Freya gave a little shrug and smiled hesitantly, looking as nervous and awkward as Elena had felt just a moment ago, and Elena's heart started beating so fast that she thought it really would burst after all.

"I - you-" she stammered for a moment before giving up and leaning over to kiss Freya instead.

Freya's lips were soft against her own and tasted like the sea, and they kissed and kissed and held each other close as _The Seer_ sailed through the night and the stars twinkled around them.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[podfic] Beneath the Starlit Sky](https://archiveofourown.org/works/374920) by [growlery](https://archiveofourown.org/users/growlery/pseuds/growlery)




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